Fontana fuel theft suspects arrested

Fontana police arrested three men Wednesday on suspicion of siphoning as much as 300 gallons of gas out of underground tanks at a Foothill Boulevard station.

An off-duty Fontana police officer saw a van and a gold Toyota Camry parked next to each other at the Mobil gas station at 16925 Foothill Blvd. at 11:45 a.m.

The officer considered the van suspicious and suspected that people inside the Camry were lookouts for some type of criminal activity.

Officers discovered the van was parked over an access hole for an underground tank, and the suspects were siphoning gas into large barrels. Police say they were also at the station Tuesday.

Police arrested Freddrick Hunter, 38, of Rialto; Edward Dawson, 32, and Terry Washington, 42, both of Fontana on suspicion of grand theft. They were booked into West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.